The No-Waste Movement

The Zero Waste or No Waste movement got some press a couple of years back, when a few people claimed the amount of waste they generated in a year could fit into a small mason jar. The Guardian ran a story and some people were incredulous. Was this possible? How much time is involved to live this way? The women leading this charge says it is possible and that with small changes everyone can start to live this way.

When you think about how the average American throws away roughly 4.5 pounds of garbage a day, according to the EPA, these processes require a massive amount of energy. The No-Waste or Zero-Waste movement is a tall order.

The fundamental philosophy behind this movement is everything is reused or recycled so ideally nothing from your household is sent to landfills. Is this possible? People like Kathryn Kellog think so. Obviously, a change like this will not happen all at once. You will need to do this in stages, so how do you even start?

Kathryn’s website outlines 10 steps to get started. The overall theme involves transitioning your lifestyle from disposable to permanent. This means going from Kleenex to handkerchiefs, plastic Tupperware to glass, bottled water to a water bottle and the list goes on.

You can also begin to compost, it is not too difficult and many more things can be composted than you think. You are probably already doing many of these things, but add a few more to the list and see how it goes!